Dear Central Great Lakes,

We’re in that time of grey and cold, long nights, and less sunlight. Our days begin and end in darkness. The space in-between challenges us to keep calm and carry on -- no matter how many “Breaking News” stories on a country divided, antisemitism, war, pain, and global suffering intrude upon our personal space in an hour.

So, just between us, how brightly is your personal light shining, you know, the one locked deep within your soul? Is it a flame or a spark? What is the magic code that can keep our flame strong?

Perhaps we need to place a lifeline-call to our Talmudic rabbis for some how-to advice and encouragement. Come along with me. If we remain still and listen, we can hear their voices through our treasured texts as they remind us, especially in the month of Kislev, of the power of a single candle to drive out the darkness.

As Conservative Jewish Women the opportunity is ours every day to reclaim and retain that bright light within our souls. The opportunity is ours to let it shine with a spiritual audacity of courage and strength that brilliantly casts away any darkness in our corner of this world. Women’s League and CGLR are the resources that empower us to be all that w can b a Jewish Cnsevaive to help us along our journey as we commit ourselves to be the agents of light who make a difference.

Now, as Chanukah, the Festival of Lights, quickly approaches, my wish for you is that you will:

Keep the flame of your unique light bright

Keep it glowing

Keep it lit with your joy

Light it with the works of your hands

Light it with hope

Light it with service

Light it with this prayer and

Bring the lamp of your soul forward to be a blessing. (Inspired by “This Light is Mine”)

Shine on, CGLR! Shine on!

Happy Chanukah,

Shabbat Shalom,

Pam

Pam Schlosberg

CGLR President

847.433.7546 (h); 847.691.8991 (c)

The Ukraine War Continues -

The Suffering Continues-- 

Masorti Olami Support Continues --

Our CGLR Advocacy and Support Continues

We can extend our sense of renewed hope and send our light forward by a donation via The Schechter Institutes, Inc. www.schechter.edu/donate or

via Masorti Olami: Support Our Work (masortiolami.org)

Sisterhood Shabbat - December 17

Our Sisterhood Shabbat will take place on Saturday, December 17. This is an opportunity to recognize all of our Sisterhood members and our many accomplishments. The Sisterhood will also lead the Shabbat morning service. If you are interested in leading a part of the service or reading Torah, please contact SUE NASH.



Jewels in the Crown is an opportunity for your Sisterhood to be honored for exceptional programming and participation.

See below for information and application.

Application and supporting materials must be submitted to Women’s League by

March 2, 2023.

For more information email: jewel@wlcj.org

     Visit our CGLR Website -

Your Resource for all Thing



We welcome information to post about your affiliate. Send us your news, and we will add it to our site!

Click here -> http://www.wlcjregion.org/central/

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WLCJ Central Great Lakes 

What is a legacy? The true definition of legacy means something that is passed on. This can take many forms: money, property, ethics, or core values. A legacy can have a lasting impact on the world. It is a gift that is passed down from generation to generation. Torah Fund Legacy Society allows you to give to Torah Fund even after you have left this world. This is an opportunity to share our values and ethics with our children and grandchildren for eternity.

To become a part of Torah Fund Legacy Society, you can designate Torah Fund as a beneficiary through your 403b or 401k accounts or on your life insurance. Another way is to state in your will or trust a percentage to go to Torah Fund. There is no extra giving of money in this life. To find out more about Legacy Society, go to Torah Fund Legacy Society - Jewish Theological Seminary (jtsa.edu) or email Torah Fund at torahfund@jtsa.edu.

I also want to remind everyone, when you are sending Torah Fund checks to the Torah Fund office, please send them via priority mail so they can be tracked if they get lost.



Lastly, as you plan your Torah Fund events for the winter and spring, please remember to invite me to your events. I can attend in person or by Zoom. I am here if you have any questions or concerns regarding Torah Fund. 

Shabbat Shalom,

Rebecca Goldwasser

CGLR Vice President of Torah Fund

rebeccatorahfund@gmail.com

Torah Fund supports programs and scholarships for the five Conservatives/Masorti global institutes

of higher education.

New Digital Torah Fund eCards Available NOW:

Send a greeting with ecards and support Torah Fund! Make your gift more meaningful by using our ecards for every occasion!

Mazal Tov to

the newly ordained Rabbis from

Schechter Rabbinical Seminary:

Rabbi Adam Berman and

Rabbi David Pearlman Paran

Rabbi Ellen S. Wolintz-Fields,

WLCJ Executive Director,

for being awarded an

Honorary Doctorate from the

Schechter Rabbinical Seminary

Yom Huledet Sameach

(Happy Birthday) to

Gilda Schwartz

CGLR Membership Vice President

on December 16

Mi Sheberach for

Susan Steinberg

Southern Region President

Ruth Harris

InterContinental Region President

Rhonda Cohn

Past President of CGLR

Robin Lash

CGLR Program Vice President

We wish them Refuah Shlemah - A complete and speedy recovery

****************************

It is with sadness that we advise you of the passing of Michael Paul Goldstein z'l, brother of Janet Goldstein Reagan, former Southwest Branch president. May she be comforted among the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem.

Private messages can be sent to Janet at: janetreagan47@gmail.com

1120 Beacon Parkway East, Unit 506

Birmingham, Alabama 35209-1023

May his Memory be forever a Blessing!

Jewels in the Crown. Jewels: people or things that are treasured, esteemed or indispensable. Jewels are our affiliates. The Crown is WLCJ.

For an award, we acknowledge those affiliates who educate, care, support and inspire their women with programs and events, or through the use of programs and events designed and presented by Women’s League.

At the next WLCJ International Convention in 2023, we will again bestow these awards on those Sisterhood Affiliates who meet certain requirements. As we plan for 2023, we are taking into account the pandemic and how it has affected planning and programming.

What is important is that to receive a Jewels in the Crown award, the affiliate must participate or sponsor two programs each fiscal year in each category. For each category there are choices and the affiliate does not have to complete all of the choices, just two.

There will also be information on WLCJ website pertaining to diversity and inclusion initiatives.

In order to apply, an application is found on WLCJ website: https://www.wlcj.org/programs/jewels-in-the-crown-awards/ which needs to be filled out and sent in either snail mail to the Women's League office: 520 8th Avenue, 4th Floor, New York, NY 10018 or email: jewel@wlcj.org.

It is wonderful to be able to say to the members of your Sisterhood Affiliate, to the members of your synagogue, and to prospective members that yours is an award-winning organization. We look forward to welcoming our newest award-winning affiliates who will be designated a Jewel in the Crown of Women’s League for Conservative Judaism at our Convention in 2023!

Jewels in the Crown 2023 Application Instructions

• A sisterhood/affiliate must participate in or sponsor two programs or projects in each category during each fiscal year between July 2020 and June 2023
• For Jewels in the Crown 2023, there will be three award levels - for one year, two years, and for three years.
• Activities must have occurred, or be scheduled to occur, between July 1, 2020 and June 30, 2023
• Download the form from wlcj.org and return with supporting materials to jewel@wlcj.org as attachments by March 2, 2023.
• Electronic submissions are preferred and must be submitted to jewel@wlcj.org. Materials and forms SHOULD NOT BE SUBMITTED to any other email address. If electronic submission is not possible, please fill out this form and mail the material to WLCJ at 520 8th Avenue, 4th Floor, New York, NY 10018
• Email any questions to: jewel@wlcj.org

Eligibility

To be eligible for a Jewels in the Crown Award, a Sisterhood Affiliate, or a member of one, must fulfill each of the following for each fiscal year between July 2020 and June 2023:

• Submit Women’s League per capita payment on time
• Participate in the Torah Fund Campaign
• Attend a region conference and/or meetings and virtual meetings count!

Categories

Education/Program (Participate in or sponsor two programs each year)

• Official Women’s League Education or other such programs, such as Personal Conversations, WL Reads, Health and Wellness; How to Live Forever, Women in Film, Masorti Days of Study, Sichot beyn Achayot (dialog between Diaspora and Israeli sisters), Makom B’yachad.
• Use of any Women’s League holiday and educational materials: Ruth, Esther, Kohelet, Shir Hashirim, Psalms, Mitzvah Yomit, Yom Yarok, Hiddur Mitzvah, Ushpizot, Divrei Nashim: Words of Our Women, Women’s League Shabbat, Sisterhood Planner
• Participation in the WLCJ Adult Bat Mitzvah Program or participation in an adult Bat Mitzvah program using Etz Chayim He Bat Mitzvah/Adult Jewish Studies Curriculum
• Special interest groups such as Rosh Chodesh or book group, needlework club, Torah yoga, etc.
• Program from the Women’s League Sisterhood Planner (name/date of program)
• 2020 and 2017 programs from previous Jewels in the Crown winners – Download by logging into the Members Only section of the WLCJ website!
• Original or innovative programming of Jewish or general content (such as women’s health, financial planning, nutrition, etc.)
• Programming which directly addresses issues of diversity and inclusion such as LGBTQIA+, disability/differing abilities/autism, Jews of Color, or family status
• WLCJ Hebrew Classes

Community Service/Israel/World Affairs

(Participate in or sponsor two programs each fiscal year) 

• Event either planned with or opened to another sisterhood/affiliate or to your region members
• Any type of community service (chesed) project (description required); such as collecting clothes for community shelters; collecting food for food banks; environmental project, etc.; community-wide health initiatives, such as organized walks for any health disorder; health fairs; or the collection of financial donations in support of such programs given that other sorts of collections may have been limited during the pandemic
• Contribute to Masorti Women and/or Kehillot (in Israel)
• Mercaz programming
• Program focused on Israel (such as JNF, Israel Advocacy, etc.)
• Supporting WLCJ community service initiatives such as Stock the Shelves; Support the Girls; Sharsheret; or WLCJ Giving Tuesday which helps support the Masorti Day of Study in Israel 

Women’s League Activities

(Participate in or sponsor two programs or activities each fiscal year)

• Schedule a Women’s League Shabbat (on prescribed or other date)
• Schedule a Women’s League Preparation for Shabbat Together: HaChanah L’Shabbat B’Yachad (as some Sisterhoods/affiliates may be unable to celebrate a traditional WL Shabbat during the pandemic due to restrictions on virtual services)
• Invite/include region officers to sisterhood meeting or event; virtual attendance counts!
• President is a member of PrezNet
• Member participates in a WLCJ virtual education program
• Member attends Women’s League Leadership Institute when available
• Member participates in region training for her portfolio (ex: president, Torah Fund, treasurer)
• Schedule or confer with Women’s League consulting services
• Member is registered for Women’s League convention (2023)
• Host region or area meetings when able or a member participates in the planning of such events (as when they are virtual).

Anne Schimberg

Jewels in the Crown 2023 Co-Chair

jewel@wlcj.org

Karen Winer

Jewels in the Crown 2023 Co-Chair

jewel@wlcj.org

December 10, 2022

Parashat Vayishlach

Submitted by Rabbi Ellen S. Wolintz-Fields, WLCJ Executive Director, ewolintz-fields@wlcj.org

In this week’s Torah reading, Parashat Vayishlach, Jacob prepares to meet his brother Esau, who he ran away from, fearing that Esau would kill him because Jacob tricked him out of his birthright. The night before their confrontation, Jacob struggles with a man, and he wakes up injured. The commentators wonder if Jacob truly struggled with someone who was physically there? Was it an actual person? Was it an angel of God? Or some say that perhaps Jacob was actually struggling with himself, in a dream perhaps? Whatever happened, after this wrestling match, Jacob winds up with the socket of his hip being strained. Have you ever endured a similar situation – where you needed to have a difficult conversation, or confrontation, or meeting with someone, and you felt like you were actually mentally, spritially, emotionally, or perhaps even physically wrestling with someone , or perhaps yourself? This account in the Torah should give us strength, that just as Jacob had to face one of his greatest foes, and could not sleep the night before, we too might find ourselves in similar situations. But we need to remember – Chazak v’Ematz – Be Strong and Courageous!

Cut-off date to purchase Kits:

USA Orders: December 12th

Canadian Orders: December 8th

Join Women's League for our Annual Hanukkah Lighting! Followed by Paint and Sip with Nikki Fuchs Sausen. 

Registration for Hanukkah Lighting is FREE.

Participation for the Paint Night:

US Kit Pricing = $45.00

Canada Kit Pricing = $52.00

Kit fees cover: Canvas, Paints, Brushes, Apron and Shipping

Estimated Delivery Schedules:

USA Orders: USPS Priority Mail and are delivered within 2-3 business days

Canadian Orders: Deliveries are delivered within 4-7 business days.

All of the #GivingTuesday Campaign will go to the 

“MASORTI WOMEN’S DAYS OF STUDY"

#GIVINGTUESDAY 

Facebook Fundraiser

Help us spread the word in social media! Please click on the button below to share our WLCJ Giving Tuesday Facebook Fundraiser. Together we are louder and heard even further if you help us share our fundraiser page. Let’s exceed what we raised last year on Facebook!

Click on the button Give on Facebook

Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday

12 PM ET; 11 AM CT; 9 AM PT; 10 AM MT

Join Zoom Meeting: https://zoom.us/j/630830287

Meeting ID: 630 830 287

Password: 875936

Special Program during Makom B'Yachad:

Hanukkah, Friday, December 23, 2022



Want to sing, teach, help with technology, and more during Daily Psalm Study, and Kaddish? Sign up below.Sign

Key to Calendar:

CGLR Events

WLCJ Events

Affiliate Events

Through December 31- ALL DAY- #WLCJ Giving Tuesday Continues

Sunday, December 11 @ 11:00 AM CST / 12:00 PM EST - Sichot Beyn Achayot: Midor L'Dor - Workshop 3

Wednesday, December 14 @ 8:00 PM CT / 9:00 PM ET Women in the Chanukah Story, Rabbi Marianne Novak, presenter

Thursday, December 22 @ 7:00 PM ET - WLCJ Annual Hanukkah Lighting, Sip & Paint

Wednesday, January 4, 2023@1:00PM CT / 2:00PM ET- EHNTJC presents Notable Ukranian Jews Who Influenced Our World

Sunday, January 8, 2023 @ 12:00NCT / 1:00PM ET- WL Reads interviews Lori Banov Kaufman, author of the book, Rebel Daughter.

Monday January 30, 2023 @ 8:00PM ET- Torah Fund Stands with Israel, Zoom

Thursday, April 27, 2023 @ 6:00PM CT / 7:00PM ET- WL Reads interviews Alyson Richmond and Shaunna Edwards, co-authors of the book, The Thread Collectors.

Laurie B. Davis

Communication VP/ The WAVE Editor